SAM Wilson couldn’t drum up a goal on his Sholing debut, but he managed the next best thing.

The Boatmen’s new strike signing from Winchester City provided the assist from which the younger of the Mason brothers, Daniel, gave the visitors a fourth-minute lead at Cinderford.

Sholing held onto that advantage for the remainder of the 90 minutes as their third win of the season beckoned in the Southern One South & West.

But, agonisingly, they succumbed to a stoppage-time equaliser when, having blocked Joe Donaghue’s free kick, they watched in agony as Joe Turley smashed home the rebound.

“We were down to the bare bones again, having lost TJ Cuthbertson and Mike Byrne to injury, so we brought some lads back in and I think match fitness told really,” said co-boss Dave Fear, in the wake of the 1-1 draw.

“We gave away a late free-kick with a bit of a rash challenge and they’ve hit the ball into our defensive wall. It bounced out and, as our boys came to close it down, their lad’s squeezed it into the only place it could have gone.

“One point is better than nothing, but it’s a bit of a killer when something like that happens so deep into the game.”

Mason’s early strike followed good link-up play between brother Byron and Wilson. Had Nick Watts kept his composure, Sholing might already been ahead by then, but the winger chose to blast the ball rather than place it and his shot flew wide.

“Cinderford are a good side who know how to play their pitch, but we had our chances,” said Fear.

“Kev Brewster’s sent a free kick narrowly wide into the side netting and their ’keeper’s pulled off a fingertip save from Nick Watts.”

Right-back Cuthbertson could be out for a couple of weeks after turning his ankle in the midweek Hampshire FA Senior Cup win over US Portsmouth, while Byrne had a slight hamstring niggle and chose to rest it rather than risk a lengthy spell out.

The big plus for Sholing, however, was the long-awaited league return of defender Jack Smith, who has been sidelined with ankle ligament damage since the start of the season.

The Boatmen, meanwhile, have confirmed that Portsmouth-based midfielder Lewis Fennemore – one of the heroes of May’s FA Vase triumph at Wembley - has dual-signed for Sydenhams Premier high-fliers Moneyfields.

“Lewis has gone self-employed and was finding the longer trips difficult work-wise, but I’m not saying there’s no route back,” said Fear.